Barak Warns of ‘Homegrown Terror’ After Israeli Base Vandalized

Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Israeli settlers vandalized an army
base, threw stones at an officer and entered a closed military
zone on the Jordanian border, acts that Defense Minister Ehud
Barak said “have the characteristics of homegrown terror.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the incidents
and said he has “‘consulted with our top security and criminal
justice officials, and have requested they present me with a
plan to deal with this phenomenon.” His statement was carried
in a text message sent from his office.

The activists were spurred on by reports that Israel is
planning to evacuate several unauthorized settler outposts in
the West Bank in the near future, the Haaretz daily reported.
Some settler activists have warned of possible retaliation
whenever the government takes action against unauthorized
settlements.

Netanyahu refused last year to renew a 10-month freeze on
settlement construction in the West Bank, leading to the
collapse of peace talks with the Palestinians. Palestinian
leaders have said that Israel must stop all construction for
negotiations to resume.

About 50 settlement activists broke through the perimeter
fence of an Israeli army base in the West Bank, threw stones at
a brigade commander and his deputy, and vandalized military
vehicles and property, the Defense Ministry said in an e-mailed
statement.

In a separate incident last night, 17 activists entered a
closed military zone on the border with Jordan and occupied an
abandoned structure in the area until they were forcibly ejected
by Israeli authorities.

Barak said the incidents “have the characteristics of
homegrown terror and will not be tolerated,” according to a
statement from the ministry.

More than 300,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank and
another 200,000 reside in parts of Jerusalem that Israel
captured from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war and which
Palestinians claim for a future independent state.